Own a Piece of a PGA Tour Pro? A Start-Up Embraces That Idea

CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, Colo. — Imagine if the opening bell rang next month on the new wraparound golf season and you owned stock in the next Jimmy Walker, whose fever chart in 2013-14 exhibited the same arc as a majestic drive. He won his first three PGA Tour events and is a lock for the season-ending Tour Championship.

A San Francisco start-up envisions a day, on the horizon, when the public can buy shares linked to the future income of professional golfers, making the fans’ investment in their favorite players financial as well as emotional.

Can the gallery cries of “You my man!” or “Show me my money!” be far off?

For now, the portfolio of the company, Fantex, is limited to football players, including the San Francisco 49ers’ Vernon Davis and the Buffalo Bills’ E. J. Manuel, who have had their initial public offerings. The athletes are paid a lump sum upfront for 10 percent of whatever they make on and off the field, including any postcareer pursuits related to their sport. The company keeps 5 percent of what it collects. The rest is allocated to shareholders, who have a financial incentive to promote the athletes, the better to boost their stock, in a setup that perhaps can best be described as “The Social Network” meets “Wall Street.”

Investing in a golfer’s future is not a novel idea. The practice is as old as the PGA Tour, with scores of pros owing their starts to financial backing from individuals with whom they had some kind of personal connection. Before the 11-time tour winner Zach Johnson accrued 10 corporate sponsors, he had roughly 10 benefactors from his native Iowa who bought stakes in him at $500 a share so he would have enough money to cover his traveling expenses and tournament fees.

Johnson, a one-time major winner who paid his investors back with interest, said: “It was a necessity. I couldn’t have played out here or been competitive without it.”

With more than $31 million in golf earnings, not including his endorsement income, Johnson, a father of three, can now afford to be selective in his business dealings. For the money he receives from corporate partners like Oakley, Transamerica and John Deere, Johnson spends time away from home at outings and such. There is no such trade-off with Fantex; no dinners or clinics to attend as the cost of expanding one’s bank account and personal brand.

“I like the concept,” said Jack Nicklaus, an 18-time major winner. “I wish I had it when I was younger.”

Nicklaus, who turned professional in 1962, joined Fantex’s advisory board in January. Speaking by telephone Friday, Nicklaus said he would have liked to be able to create a fan base early in his career that could continue to grow, like a certificate of deposit, well into his retirement as he moved into golf course design and other endeavors.

It’s worth noting that Nicklaus earned $5.7 million in his career. Eight times he was the single-season money leader on the tour. The most he made in one year was $316,911, in 1972.

That would be more than $1.8 million today. By comparison, 51 players have earned more than $1.8 million this season. Rory McIlroy, the leading money winner, has made $7.3 million, including $5 million in one four-week span.

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Jimmy Walker during the first round of the BMW Championship on Thursday.CreditDoug Pensinger/Getty Images

Next week, one lucky player in the field of 30 will walk off with a $10 million FedEx Cup bonus.

Davis, a tight end with 1.97 million Twitter followers, is motivated to continue increasing his fan base after his playing days. His popularity could attract corporate partners, which in turn could increase his marketability, creating a cash-flow loop that won’t dry up when he retires.

He is entering his ninth season in the N.F.L., where the average career is 3.3 years. The $4 million lump sum Fantex paid Davis is the seed money to build his brand for years to come.

Golfers, with competitive careers that can last well into their 50s and 60s, have the luxury of time to build their bank account and fan base organically.

Keegan Bradley said PGA Tour pros as I.P.O.s “could be the future” but added, “I find it doubtful I’d do that.”

Gary Woodland, a two-time tour winner with more than $7 million in career earnings, said for him to consider becoming golf’s answer to Davis, the lump sum “would have to be a big number.”

He added: “Say you’re talking $8 million guaranteed. You win next week, you’re making $11-, $12 million. Obviously, if you’re hanging around 125, if you can make that number, it’d be great.”

Woodland meant No. 125 on the money list, occupied this season by Nicholas Thompson, 31, who made about $713,000. Potential investors might note that Thompson came up through the Web.com Tour, as did Chris Kirk, who entered last week as the FedEx Cup points leader.

Walker, 35, is another player who toiled for several years on golf’s minor league circuit. Eleven months ago he was considered a PGA Tour journeyman, with 187 starts before his first victory and career earnings of more than $7 million.

It is easy to be bullish on Walker now, but he expressed no desire to turn his fans, who now include about 11,500 Twitter followers, into potential shareholders.

“Social media today is so rampant, you can build your brand by yourself that way,” Walker said.

The solitary nature of golf, he suggested, is at odds with the concept of public offerings.

“I have a caddie,” Walker said. “He and I are a team. I don’t see the need to have anybody else backing me.”

A version of this article appears in print on , Section SP, Page 10 of the New York edition with the headline: Own a Piece of a PGA Tour Pro? A Start-Up Embraces That Idea . Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe